I have just seen. on BBC Breakfast, the father of Trooper Jack Sadler who died two years ago tomorrow. No outrage bus, but the sad facts are that he only received the letter of condolence a couple of weeks ago. His argument centred around the absence of helicopters, and the time it took to refit Merlins. His accusations boiled down to the government not treating the forces as if they were at war.

If anyone would like to see it, the BBC iplayer will have it. I found it upsetting to see Mr Sadlers evident distress.

But he lost me at the point that he said "When I heard about Mrs Janes' letter I decided to complain that I hadn't had one - to the BBC"

If you haven't had a letter, how about complaining to the people who haven't written the letter? Or your MP (who would view this as Manna from heaven if he wasn't in the Governing party).

No. He writes to a Media outlet. I have the greatest sympathy for his loss, and I understand his (righteous) anger. I do wonder at the thought process of complaining to the media rather than the people who should be putting it right.

I have just seen. on BBC Breakfast, the father of Trooper Jack Sadler who died two years ago yesterday. No outrage bus, but the sad facts are that he only received the letter of condolence a couple of weeks ago. His argument centred around the absence of helicopters, and the time it took to refit Merlins. His accusations boiled down to the government not treating the forces as if they were at war.

If anyone would like to see it, the BBC iplayer will have it. I found it upsetting to see Mr Sadlers evident distress.

Click to expand...

I had the pleasure of knowing Jack Sadler at university, and doubtless those who knew him as well would agree he was a top bloke. If this is true I am utterly disgusted, sending a letter of condolence in a timely manner should be a no-brainer. It is insulting to his memory to send one this late after the event, two years later is seriously taking the piss. It smacks of ineptitude.

According to the following it was not just the lack of letter, other mistakes were made.

Soldier's father angry at letter
The father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2007 has criticised the government for sending him a condolence letter two years late.

Ian Sadler, of Exmouth, Devon, said he had been told an administrative error was the reason for the delay.

No 10 said the prime minister had ordered an internal review to ensure the "mistake" would never happen again.

Last month, Gordon Brown was criticised by a bereaved parent for misspelling her son's name in a condolence letter.

In the letter to Mr Sadler, a member of Mr Brown's staff apologised for the "distress" the error had caused.

His son, Trooper Jack Sadler, of the Territorial Army, was killed on 4 December 2007 when his vehicle hit a landmine during a reconnaissance patrol checking routes for an impending operation in Helmand Province.

Mr Sadler told BBC Radio 4's The Report he had received a handwritten letter from Mr Brown on 17 November 2009, along with a typed apology from an aide to the PM.

Apology from aide

"Jack was killed on 4 December 2007 and I received a letter of condolence from the prime minister with no date on it on 17 November 2009," he told The Report.

"I have a letter apologising, not from the prime minister, but from Jeremy Heywood who is his permanent secretary, apologising that an administrative mistake resulted in my not receiving a letter from the prime minister.

"It's not good is it? Nearly two years later and the PM hasn't apologised, just his aide."

Mr Sadler added: "It goes to show what this present administration thinks of our soldiers."

In his letter, Mr Heywood said: "This issue has only just been brought to the prime minister's and my own attention; and the prime minister wanted to write to you at the earliest opportunity to correct the mistake that was made."

He added: "Please accept my and the prime minister's apologies for the distress this may have caused and my most sincere condolences for your loss."

A Downing Street spokeswoman said that as soon as Mr Brown had been informed a letter had not been sent, he had wanted to "immediately" write to Mr Sadler, and that Mr Heywood had also written to "apologise unreservedly".

The spokeswoman added: "When the prime minister was told about the mistake made in not sending the letter to the family of Jack Sadler, he ordered an urgent internal review by the MoD and No 10 to ensure that this mistake had not happened elsewhere.

"He also demanded a review of MoD and No 10 procedures to ensure this could not happen again."

Last month Jacqui Janes criticised the prime minister for misspelling her son Jamie's name in a letter of condolence he sent her following his death.

At the time, Mr Brown said he sends a handwritten letter to every family.

Mr Sadler, a former serviceman, has already written to the Ministry of Defence complaining about other mistakes.

He said the MoD had incorrectly named his unit on the medal certificate, called his son a "tropper" instead of Trooper on an official document and that they were going to put the wrong cap badge on his son's headstone.

All PM's from Thatcher onwards have written letters personally to the families. Just the previous ones chose not to make publicity out of it, particularly for political gain.

I have seen one written by Margaret Thatcher to the NOK of a colleague killed in Northern Ireland.

There is no excuse for a delay of 2 years, and it would probably been better not to write if this had happened.
Lets face it No10 has a huge secretarial staff, there is no excuse for a cock up as big as this.

The points already made are mostly valid, but surely Brown has had enough opprobrium heaped on him already in this business of letters to the bereaved. For all his galaxy of faults, it's a bit unfair to hold him personally responsible for what seems to have been a serious error at lower levels two years ago. Still, cyclopean or not, he appears to have done it again by writing about somewhere called "Afghastan". I am afghast at the man's wondrous capacity for ineptitude, now as much a national embarrassment as it is a personal one. Will he never learn?